Did Missing Teen Have Secret Online Life?; Group to Counter Funeral Protest

Aired January 11, 2011 - 19:00:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST (voice-over): Tonight, a mother`s worst nightmare. Nineteen-year-old Samantha Ann Clarke vanished from her home four months ago. The troubled teen had posted suggestive photos and racy remarks on her Facebook and MySpace pages. Did she fall victim to an online pervert? Her devastated mother is frantically searching for her missing daughter. Where is Samantha?

And why on earth do some people want to protest at the funeral of the precious 9-year-old girl who was gunned down in the bloody rampage?

Also, is overnight YouTube sensation Ted Williams in trouble with the law? Cops got a disturbance call and raced to his hotel. Did the man with the golden voice rise to fame too fast? Could the sudden flood of attention and money spell trouble for this recently homeless man struggling to stay sober?

Plus, is Charlie Sheen at it again? Sources say the Hollywood superstar was MIA, and some claim he was partying with a new porn star who was reportedly into older dominant males. I`ll have the shocking details.

ISSUES starts now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIL HARRINGTON, MORGAN HARRINGTON`S MOTHER: I will tell you, having seen, that girl even had some lovely bones, we will find a way to be a family of three. You all have these tripods. They hold things. They`re not as stable as a table, but we can make a tripod work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, as one family continues to fight for justice for their beautiful daughter, Morgan Harrington, murdered by an unknown killer more than a year ago, another teenage girl in the very same state mysteriously vanishes.

Nineteen-year-old Samantha Ann Clarke`s family prayed for a Christmas miracle. All they wanted was for Samantha to come home. But there`s been no sign of the missing teen for five months now.

Samantha disappeared from her Virginia home right after midnight in early September, slipping out of the house into the night, telling her 14- year-old brother she was going out with friends. She never came back.

Tonight, a group of women who call themselves Morgan`s Warriors vow to make a difference. They fought the war on women when Morgan Harrington disappeared, and now they`re banding together again to support Samantha`s family.

Was Samantha a lonely, naive teen? She spent a lot of time online. She posted photos of herself, and she wrote that she was heartbroken and looking for love. Could some sick predator have befriended her on the Internet, gained her trust, and then lured her out of her home? Where is this innocent young girl? Help us find her. Her parents are frantic.

All right, give me a call: 1-877-JVM-SAYS.

I`m going to go straight out to Susan Ferguson Burns. She is Samantha`s cousin.

I know this is very emotional for you, and I want to ask you what you can tell us about Samantha, and some people have wondered maybe she ran away. I`m not suggesting that. I`m giving you the opportunity to tell me what you think happened -- Susan.

SUSAN FERGUSON BURNS, SAMANTHA`S COUSIN (via phone): Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Susan, I know this is difficult for you. We`re trying to find Samantha. Please help us. Tell us what you think may have happened. We know she was on the Internet a lot. We`re not suggesting she`s a runaway. I know you don`t believe that she is. You`ve said in a note to us, she would never stay gone overnight without telling her mom.

BURNS: No.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tell us about her. Tell us about her.

BURNS: She was a beautiful young lady. And she would never stay gone. She would always contact family and tell them where she would be if it was a few minutes late.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, she was online a lot. Our -- our experts are concerned that maybe some sick predator out there befriended her online and took advantage of her.

BURNS: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Do you believe that?

BURNS: Yes, I do. Yes, I really do. Because she left, and the only thing she took was her house key. And she said that she would be back before morning.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let me -- let me read some things and I want to get your analysis of this.

There are some clues on Samantha Ann`s MySpace page. Five days before she went missing, Samantha posted, quote, "I hate life. I need help. I don`t know what to do. I can`t stop hurting or crying and being stupid. Somebody please talk to me and calm me down. I don`t know what to do."

A few days before that, she also wrote, quote, "Damn. I hope everything works out if I am what I think I am for real I don`t know what to do. It`s crazy and confusing."

And she wrote, "You know, it`s funny how people talk bleep about you when you`re around, but when you`re gone they miss you and they ask about you. WTF. I just don`t understand."

I`ve got to tell you, Susan -- and you`re Samantha`s cousin -- when I was reading some of those e-mails, I wondered, might she have been pregnant? She says, "If I am what I think I am, then I don`t know what to do." And one interpretation of that, Susan, could be that she was pregnant. Your thoughts?

BURNS: No one`s seen any signs of that. We know that she had a lot of friends online. You know, we just -- she was always at home with her mom. She didn`t see anything, any signs of anything. You know, we know about friends online.

And we just feel that -- you know, she`s victim of something that happened there, somebody she met. You know, I`ve seen also that she was involved with someone who is now not in Virginia. We questioned that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. She was involved with someone who is not now in Virginia.

BURNS: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So a man.

BURNS: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And have cops talked to this man?

BURNS: As far as I know, they have. They said that they`ve investigated everything possible, but they have no leads saying that something happened to her.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Will you stand by for one second?

BURNS: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Please, Susan. Because I want to talk to two people who are here who are really my heroes, Gil and Dan Harrington.

BURNS: Oh, yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: These are the parents of Morgan Harrington. And Morgan was tragically murdered...

BURNS: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... beautiful young woman, who had just gone to a concert. And she was never seen again alive.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK, Susan, tell me what the Harringtons have done for you.

BURNS: I know you know we haven`t had a lot of media attention, and we don`t know if it`s because, you know, we`re from a small area, if it`s because the family doesn`t have money. We`re not for sure. He helped out, and he said, you know, push it. Until you get it on the air, you do what you have to do because, you know, she needs justice also.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Gil Harrington and Dr. Harrington, you again are my heroes.

BURNS: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And the dignity with which you`ve handled your unspeakable ordeal of losing your precious daughter, it always breaks my heart to think about it. We were on this story from the very beginning. How do you have the strength, Gil, to help another family when you still haven`t solved the tragic murder of your own precious daughter?

G. HARRINGTON: It`s what you have to do. You have to make lemonade from this terrible situation, and service and caring and helping other people is how I do that. I mean, we are caregivers. And to help people that we understand more than the general public just what the pain is and some of the challenges of having a daughter who`s missing.

The missing part of Morgan`s ordeal was more traumatic and more painful to both of us by far than recovering her body. You know, we could deal with our daughter being dead and having a funeral for her and trying to understand that. The missing time, when you`re filling in the blanks, and not knowing, is excruciating. I`m so sorry for Samantha`s family.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Is it -- oh, I`m so sorry for them. And you can tell from the cousin that, Susan, they`re going through hell.

It seems like the only thing that Morgan Harrington`s unsolved murder and Samantha`s disappearance have in common is they occurred in the same state, Virginia. Cops searched -- we`re going to show you the dense woods. You`re looking at it right there. Satellite image right near Samantha`s home.

Take a look at this map -- map. Samantha vanished from Orange, Virginia this past September. Morgan vanished about a year earlier, in October 2009, about 30 miles away in Charlottesville, Virginia. That`s where the University of Virginia is. Morgan was at a rock concert there the night she disappeared.

Dr. Harrington, it doesn`t seem like these two cases are connected, but in your mind is there a possibility that the monster who murdered your daughter could be responsible for Samantha`s disappearance?

DAN HARRINGTON, FATHER OF MORGAN: Jane, you know, we don`t know who took Samantha, but the one thing that we do know is that Morgan was killed a year ago. And in Fairfax, which is north of Charlottesville and Orange, was the 2005 rape that the DNA connection on Morgan was related to. So these are three cases that are sort of in a line from Fairfax to Orange to Charlottesville. And it may very well have similar -- a similar person being involved in all three of these.

You know, one of the -- one of the things that I think is very difficult in this situation is that the case has not received, early on, much attention. And it -- it really frustrated me to see the family and the case not be picked up by local media and state media and national media.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And I want to go to Dr. Judy Kuriansky, clinical psychologist. My big issue tonight: is this Samantha, this young woman an easy target because she posted photos of herself on Facebook and MySpace, and she revealed a whole lot about her personal issues, and could somebody have taken advantage of her, a predator?

DR. JUDY KURIANSKY, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: I`m afraid so. That`s the case -- that`s the danger of this new rage of social media, Jane, that really concerns me. Because what`s happened is that this lovely young lady has made herself publicly vulnerable. And so for the world and strangers to see. It`s one thing for friends but another thing for any stranger to read how alone she is, how vulnerable she is, how much she feels that she is on her own and that she has a secret, that "if people knew who I was" that that would be a problem for her.

I have -- I have worked with teenagers and young people for so many years, and I know they hide secrets. They hide secrets about their drug use, about their alcohol use, about their sexual orientation. And that`s what makes her vulnerable.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And we have to wonder: could she have been pregnant? We only ask that because she said, "If I am what I think I am, then I don`t know what I`m going to do." We`re taking your calls on this: 1-877-JVM- SAYS.

Too much too soon for the homeless man with the golden voice? We`re going inside his alleged dark past and a dust-up he had just the other day.

Plus, more people who knew the alleged Arizona shooter are coming forward. You won`t believe what they`re saying about this very, very sick young man.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WAYNE SMITH, LOUGHNERS` NEIGHBOR: They`re not going to come out. You guys can stay here until Hades freezes over. He`s not going to come out. He did tell me that -- to tell you guys that when he gets to where he can - - right now he can`t talk, guys. He can`t get out three words without crying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We are trying to finds out what happened to 19-year- old Samantha Clarke. She left her home telling her brother, "Hey, I`m just going to go out with friends." She was never seen again.

We are here with Dr. Harrington and his wife, Gil, who are my heroes, who are reaching out and helping this devastated family, even though they are still hunting for who killed their precious daughter, Morgan Harrington, in the same state. And together we`re working tonight to try to break through and get some kind of lead on this Samantha Clarke disappearance.

We`re going to show you some tattoos that Samantha had, and apparently one said "Tigger," and one was a dolphin. One had the word "lucky," and one said something about "Playboy."

Susan Ferguson Burns, you are her cousin. Did she have any kind of trouble emotionally? And I only ask that because we`re trying to find her. We`ve got to -- we`ve got to talk about everything. We can`t leave any stone unturned.

Some of the postings describe -- she described herself as lonely and sad. These were postings on her wall. She also said, "If I am what I think I am, I don`t know what I`m going to do about it," which some have interpreted it as maybe she had a secret, such as possibly pregnancy.

Was she troubled, Susan?

BURNS: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: How so?

How so, Susan?

BURNS: Hello?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: How -- what was her trouble? What kind off trouble did she have?

BURNS: None that we were really aware of until we seen some of the postings.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So, in other words, you`re learning at the same time that we`re learning that she had sort of this secret life where she was troubled and sad, which certainly...

BURNS: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... Shellee Hale, psychic investigator, is not unusual for a 19-year-old. What teenager hasn`t had angst? What -- what are you learning from the family? Because I know that the family is working with you to try to solve this case, Shellee.

SHELLEE HALE, PSYCHIC INVESTIGATOR: Well, originally I heard that there was a gentleman that the mother and the daughter had met at a bar, and he had refused a polygraph test. And I`m not sure if they`ve followed up on that or not.

But in terms of what we`re seeing with all these tragic cases and social media, America`s got to wake up here. I mean, there`s programs like PIPL, One, Two, Three people. You can just put in someone`s user`s name or their first and last name, and see who they really are. Just because you get a friends request or accept someone doesn`t mean they`re your friend.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Bradford Cohen...

HALE: ... thinking they are.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Bradford Cohen, she described her mood was "worried" days before she disappeared. It doesn`t sound like this is something -- it sounds like she left possibly to meet someone, but yet the one man that she`s connected with cops apparently have interviewed, and there`s no mention of any -- anybody being a suspect.

BRADFORD COHEN, ATTORNEY: No. It certainly sounds that way. And what the police would be doing at this point is going through the records of MySpace, going through the records of Facebook, seeing who texted her, who e-mailed her, seeing who she made her last phone call to or who made the phone call to her before she disappeared. Maybe a ping to see where the phone was located at the time that call was made.

I mean, there`s a lot of investigation. I don`t know what they`re doing because they`re not very vocal about what they`re doing at this point. But there`s a lot of investigation, a lot of background to do when you`re a police officer. And generally, you start with the people closest to that individual and then work your way out.

But in this case, seeing as they`ve already kind of started eliminating people, you`d start to gather forensic evidence in terms of the Facebook, the MySpace, who`s texting, who`s calling. Those are very important factors that are going to take place, in this case, at least to get some sort of lead. Because it seems a little cold right now.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Dr. Judy Kuriansky, briefly, do you think that she might have been talking about being pregnant when she said, "If I am what I think I am, then I don`t know what I`m going to do about it," and then added that her mood was "worried." What does that say to you?

KURIANSKY: Well, it says to me that there`s a possibility that she had some questions about her sexuality. And some of her pictures you see her as being very sweet, and obviously there`s a body image issue, because putting a "Playboy" bunny on your body says something about how you`re thinking about yourself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t agree with that.

KURIANSKY: And in some of the pictures she posted she looks a little tough.

HALE: I don`t agree with that either.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I think that`s...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hold on. We can disagree. Shellee Hale...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s silly.

KURIANSKY: You need to think about everything.

HALE: You know, there was a gentleman that actually called the house that night six times right before she left.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: This is big news.

HALE: I think they know who possibly is involved here, and I think, you know, it`s one of those cases again where they don`t have the ability to do a no-body prosecution. They`ve got to find the body.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Susan -- Susan, do you know about somebody calling the house six times, a man, the night she disappeared?

BURNS: No. This is the first that we are hearing about this.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I have to say that we`re just about out of time. But I want to once again thank Dr. Harrington and Gil and tell you that we`re not going to let go of either of these stories. And we`re going to stay on top of the tragic murder of your daughter and hope you find justice. Thank you again.

Up next, the homeless man with the golden voice. You won`t believe what happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did Randy and Amy ever talk to you about any concerns they had about Jared?

SMITH: No, they wouldn`t do that. They`re just what reminds me of -- to try to explain it, is they`re like a mountain man. They want to be alone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, a nation convulses in grief. Over half a dozen murders and a score of injuries.

Meantime, as you just heard, neighbors of the accused Arizona gunman told us his parents are both weeping uncontrollably. He lives with his dad and mom, who have just issued a statement asking for privacy. Should they have known their 22-year-old son was dangerously demented?

Here is the "New York Post" headline. Come on, take show it. Take a look at it. Take a look at it. Take a look at it. OK, look at those eyes. What do they tell you? How about that smile? This guy has just been arrested for mass murder, and he is grinning. This mug shot was taken just minutes after cops say he went on the shooting rampage.

This as the victims` families` unimaginable nightmare could get worse. The infamous Westboro Baptist Church is planning one of their revolting funeral protests, the first maybe this Thursday at little Christina Green`s funeral. She is the precious, innocent 9-year-old girl who was viciously gunned down in this rampage.

The Kansas group claims this horrific shooting spree is God`s way of punishing our government for going after their church, which protests against homosexuality. This planned protest is sparking outrage. Will it be stopped?

Joining me now, a very, very special young woman, Kristen Gilmer. And she is fighting back against these vile protests.

I`ve been watching you on television all day, Kristen, and my hat is off to you. You lost two friends in this obscene rampage. Who are these friends you lost and what have you decided to do in their honor?

KRISTEN GILMER, FRIEND OF VICTIMS: Well, I lost Gabe Zimmerman and Dorwin Stoddard on Saturday, unfortunately. Gabe was an aide for Gabby Giffords and just an amazing, compassionate, beautiful human being. Dorwin was retired and when he died, he was actually shielding his wife from the gunfire.

We lost a lot of people in Tucson. I believe 19 or 20 were shot. The congresswoman is fighting for her life. And Tucson is not going to tolerate anyone bringing hate into our city.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. Now, these horrific protests are going to go on, reportedly, at the funeral of this precious 9-year-old girl. But lawmakers have now stood up and said, "No way." OK? And they`re awaiting the governor`s signature, but apparently, they`re going to try to keep them at least a football field away from this girl`s funeral.

However, the protesters have said, "Well, that doesn`t matter, because we`re planning on protesting at an intersection that`s a thousand feet away anyway."

Are you going to take your counter protest, your peaceful, nonviolent Angel Wing that are going to block them, are you going to go to them a thousand feet away and still try to block them, even if they`re moved a thousand feet away?

GILMER: Where they are we will be. We`re -- actually have a training tomorrow night. It`s a nonviolence training, where we`re teaching people to be silent and meditate, because we think our silence is our strength.

So we`re also going to line the roads outside of the church with thousands of people dressed in white, showing basically that we`re united as a community. We`re here to support them. We won`t let anybody with a hateful message show anything to anybody at that protest -- excuse me, at that funeral. We`ll be blocking them with angel wings, and we`ll be blocking them with a human blockade. But we won`t be speaking or engaging with them whatsoever.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You are a very brave young woman. On the other side of the break, I`m going to ask you, are you afraid?

Meantime, the latest on Ted Williams. Incredible.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Is overnight YouTube sensation Ted Williams in trouble with the law? Cops got a disturbance call and raced to his hotel. Did the man with the golden voice rise to fame too fast? Could the sudden flood of attention and money spell trouble for this recently homeless man struggling to stay sober?

Plus, is Charlie Sheen at it again? Sources say the Hollywood superstar was MIA and some claim he was partying with a new porn star, who is reportedly into older dominant males. I`ll have the shocking details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC FULLER, TUCSON SHOOTING SURVIVOR: It was like a bad crime drama with a gun being pointed towards me and a very it seemed like athletic young man pumping rounds off at everybody and taking aim at us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That was one of the survivors from Saturday`s deadly rampage. He spoke to the CBS Early Show. He was shot while at Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords` meet and greet on Saturday. He was hospitalized and spoke after he got released from the hospital.

We`re so happy that he`s ok and well enough to speak to the media. Now, more people who know this suspect, Jared Loughner, are coming forward with mind-boggling details about this alleged madman`s family. Who are they? Could they have done something to stop this very, very disturbed young man?

Dr. Judy Kuriansky, we`re learning so much about this loner. We`re learning that he had some kind of tent on his family`s property. Inside the tent there was a shrine that had a skull in it. We`re learning that he was rejected by the military because he tested positive for drugs. We`re learning that his college was so terrified over his behavior, his outbursts, his non sequiturs; his weird laughing that some of the students in his class said they feared that he might come back with an automatic weapon and he was actually thrown out of college.

You`ve got to wonder, these parents are grieving, asking for privacy, but should they have known, Dr. Judy, that their son was dangerously demented?

DR. JUDY KURIANSKY, CLINICAL PSYCHIATRIST: I think it`s entirely possible that they saw some of these signs. But I`ve seen this so many times before with patients in hospitals --

(CROSSTALK)

Kuriansky: -- young men, and the parents are absolutely frightened to death themselves of their child. They are guilt-ridden. They get shameful. And therefore, they don`t come forward with anything. They keep praying that nothing will happen, that it`s just strange behavior. But with the shrine in the back, with the math teacher who said something. Obviously he`s living in the household and the parents can be aware. But they are absolutely filled with their own emotion.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me bring this in, Bradford Cohen, they themselves were apparently reclusive. The neighbors said that they didn`t go out much and that the whole family changed about 15 years ago. So this kid became a loner because his parents were alienated allegedly.

BRADFORD COHEN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Sure.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Go ahead.

COHEN: It certainly could be that. I mean, you don`t know what the parents` state of mind is to go report the kid for being strange and weird and doing these weird things and acting out. You know.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The parents didn`t report it. It was the classmates who reported it.

COHEN: I know that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The parents didn`t say anything.

COHEN: Right. Well, that`s what I`m saying because you don`t know the state of mind of the parents.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Right.

COHEN: I have no idea if these parents are completely sane or they`re a little off. Who knows? Maybe that`s why they didn`t report the son for the weird behavior, because they didn`t think that was so weird. I don`t know.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.

COHEN: Certainly when classmates raise an issue that they`re afraid a kid is going to come back in with an automatic weapon and blow everybody away --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Warning bells.

COHEN: -- someone should -- yes, someone should look into that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Christin Gilmer, you`re the community activist. You`re organizing this incredible angel action where you`re going to be wearing these angel wings and blocking these horrific Westboro Church protesters.

Here`s my thought. In a way, don`t they reveal how vicious and hateful prejudice is? I mean, in their horrific protests, as much as I condemn the protests, as much as I don`t want them to be able to defile this precious nine-year-old`s funeral, I do feel that it`s like people tell you who you are and these people are revealing their true colors and revealing the depths and the vileness of this kind of prejudice.

Your thoughts, Christin.

CHRISTIN GILMER, "ANGEL ACTION" ORGANIZER: Well, I think that -- I think it`s a human`s choice what they believe in and what they don`t. I`m guessing they probably haven`t live in a place that`s very accepting like Tucson. If they had, they probably wouldn`t feel the same way.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, again, to remind our viewers at home, this beautiful nine-year-old girl who was born on 9/11 and gunned down in this horrific rampage is having a funeral on Thursday. These Westboro protesters who say God hates -- it`s a dirty word for gay people -- are planning on protesting this precious girl`s funeral and this is part of their anti-gay movement.

And now the Arizona legislature has taken a move to keep them more than a thousand feet away from her funeral. I applaud that. I also applaud Christin Gilmer, this community activist, who`s joining us tonight who says she is going to wear angel wings along with many others and block these protesters so that this family can mourn their daughter in peace.

I applaud you, Christin. I really do.

GILMER: Thank you.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I think we all have our thoughts and prayers for peace. Thank you.

GILMER: It`s a huge group of community activists. We`re lucky to have so much overwhelming support in Tucson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TED WILLIAMS, DISCOVERED ON STREETS OF COLUMBUS, OHIO: It`s just crazy. I love it, but then at the same time I`m getting so, "Oh, God, what am I supposed to do with all of this newfound fame?"

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, the answer to that question could mean the difference between life and death for Ted Williams. You know, he`s the former homeless man with that fabulous golden voice? Ted sky-rocketed to fame last week when a reporter from the "Columbus Dispatch" posted this video on YouTube. Whose jaw didn`t drop?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: We`ll be back with more right after these words.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What a great voice.

But guess what? Ted`s sudden fame and glory has exposed a dark past as an ex-con and a booze and crack addict. Ted told Dr. Phil he knows that one misstep could spell disaster.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: I just want to make sure that I don`t blow it.

DR. PHIL MCGRAW, HOST, "DR. PHIL SHOW": You blow this --

WILLIAMS: I blow this, I die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Meantime, as people wonder about Ted`s chances of going from homeless addict to clean and sober superstar, we`re starting to see the first cracks in the fairy tale.

Last night cops reportedly rushed to the Hollywood Hotel where Ted Williams and one of his nine kids, a daughter got into an alleged screaming match. Both were taken down to the station but cops didn`t file any charges. They let them go.

This isn`t Ted`s first brush with the law by any means. "The Smoking Gun" reporting Ted has a rap sheet that stretches back 20 years and includes theft, drug and robbery. By the way, ISSUES reached out to Ted through his agent but we did not hear back.

Can this overnight sensation navigate all the temptation? Is he really sober in the truest sense of the word? We`re going to investigate.

Straight out to Dylan Howard, senior executive editor with RadarOnline; Dylan, what do you know tonight?

DYLAN HOWARD, SENIOR EXECUTIVE EDITOR, RADARONLINE: Well, Jane, Ted Williams is trying to defuse what happened last night. He`s being spotted in the last few moments out and about in Hollywood talking on his phone and enjoying a Chinese meal; this after last night when police were called to the Renaissance Hotel after what they described as a minor disturbance between Ted and one of his nine children. Both were taken into custody, taken to a local station, but released without charge.

Now, of course, Ted is discovering the price of his 15 minute of fame and all the attention that comes with it. But many are asking whether or not this was always going to happen anyway, given his criminal past. And everyone, although being tantalized by this fairy tale story, forgetting of course that there were many victims he left behind after two decades of crime.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let`s -- I want to say this. I am rooting for this guy. I do not want to throw him under the bus. I hope he is very successful.

But the facts are that Ted Williams is a convicted felon with a rap sheet that dates back 20 years. Now, check out a police report from this past July when a business owner called cops to complain that Ted was panhandling and refusing to leave his property. This businessman told "The Smoking Gun" a female companion of Ted was getting picked up and dropped off in the parking lot by various men in different vehicles.

Miranda Lin of "The Smoking Gun", what is this businessman implicating or implying with these comments about Ted Williams?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What? No, it`s not pretty clear. Go ahead, what is he trying to insinuate?

LIN: Well, I think the implication was that there might have been you know -- this lady might have been involved in some prostitution, that she was boyfriend/girlfriend with Ted Williams and that Ted Williams had been hanging around this business property for a while, you know, causing some different disturbances.

I mean looking back at his rap sheet over the past 20 years, you know, there are drug charges, there are theft charges. But I mean he`s been very open about this. He has said that he`s been involved in drugs and gotten tangled up in crime before. That`s I think why this story is so appealing, in fact, is that he`s been able to have been given a second chance.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I want --

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: -- Cooper Lawrence, to have a second chance but is all this temptation going to threaten his sobriety? I mean new-found fame, meeting nine kids and your mother on television? Cooper.

COOPER LAWRENCE, RADIO SHOW HOST & AUTHOR, "THE CULT OF CELEBRITY": This is the biggest misnomer about celebrity, that for somehow it bestows on us this greater being, that all of a sudden we`re healthy and successful.

But the person in going into celebrity to begin with has all these issues. So, just because he`s become famous it doesn`t -- it doesn`t all of a sudden make him a better person. It`s a very shallow experience for him. He`s not finding anything deeper; he`s not finding any health. Nothing is changing for him whatsoever other than the fact that we`re paying attention to it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, again, I -- I really am rooting for this guy. I hope that he stays sober. But obviously fairy tales don`t always come true, especially not in Hollywood.

DENISE RICHARDS, CHARLIE SHEEN`S EX-WIFE: I do know what happened. I would rather --

JOY BEHAR, HLN HOST, "JOY BEHAR SHOW": Oh, you do know. You just don`t want to talk about it.

RICHARDSA: I would rather --

(CROSS TALK)

BEHAR: Ok, so I`m -- I`m just trying to what read.

RICHARDSA: And I did help him at the hospital.

BEHAR: You did go to the hospital with him.

RICHARDSA: Yes.

BEHAR: So how is he doing? Is that -- can you tell me that?

RICHARDSA: I`ll let you ask Charlie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, are you perhaps looking for more evidence that Charlie Sheen is out of control? Well, here`s exhibit A: RadarOnline claims Sheen went on a raging alcohol-fueled bender in Las Vegas this weekend, allegedly with a revolving door of porn stars.

Hey, Charlie -- what happens in Vegas, it doesn`t always stay in Vegas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok, then why don`t you take one of your many, oh, let`s call them girlfriends.

CHARLIE SHEEN, ACTOR: Well, we could, but after the movie I`ve got to bring them back here and after I bring get them back here I`ve got to get them upstairs and after I get them upstairs I`ve to get them to go home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: In fact, Charlie was due on the set of his ABC show "Two-and-a-Half Men" in L.A. And for a while there nobody could find him. Then all of a sudden Sheen surfaced.

Radar Online say he spent the weekend in a $40,000 a night suite at the Palms Casino Resort, Hugh Hefner style, with a never ending supply of booze and porn stars, like 23-year-old Brie Olsen (ph) seen here in her Facebook photos. We tried to reach out to Brie but haven`t heard back.

Wasn`t the Plaza Hotel debacle enough to scare Sheen into behaving with more dignity? You`ll remember Charlie Sheen was found naked and out of control with a different porn star. Here is that porn star on GMA talking about her so-called "terrifying date" with Charlie Sheen at the Plaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPRI ANDERSON, ADULT FILM STAR: When I became really uncomfortable was when he put his hands around my neck. At -- at that point, things began to very rapidly kind of fall apart and just really get out of hand.

So that was really when things started to go wrong and when I felt like I was no longer in a good situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Sources tell Radar that Charlie is behaving like the classic functioning addict acting like nothing was wrong when he finally got to the set of his show. I`m sorry, but how long is this going to go on? When will Charlie realize he needs help?

Call me, 1-877-JVM-SAYS.

Straight out to Dylan Howard, senior executive editor with Radar Online; Dylan, what do you contend went on this weekend in Vegas?

HOWARD: Well, Jane, as we understand it, Charlie Sheen spent the weekend at a $40,000 penthouse suite and as one hotel source described to us, when they looked at the hotel suite this morning, it was clear that Charlie Sheen had been there and he had a good time.

As one described to us, the door was like a revolving door of porn stars. Now of course, this coincided with a major event in Las Vegas and coincidentally enough, Charlie Sheen went down there like a magnet.

And he`s been hanging a lot out -- hanging a lot with a young 23-year- old porn star and even flew to her hometown of Ft. Wayne, Indiana shortly after Christmas, after missing three family Christmases.

(CROSS TALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: How romantic.

HOWARD: And -- and went to her hometown and spent time with her. Interestingly enough, in this fast-developing story about Charlie Sheen, he`s returned to Los Angeles. The porn star has gone to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico, and we hear, at Radar Online, that she`s now looking to shop her story.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, boy.

HOWARD: Sell her story about the time with Charlie Sheen.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I`ve got to tell you Sheen`s spokesperson said, "I keep reading Charlie Sheen did not show up for work today. I read those remarks two hours before his scheduled time of arrival. Charlie Sheen arrived at work today and is there as I send this memo to Chicken Little, the sky remains in place."

In other words, "Nothing to see here, nothing to see here, move along." But I would say that would have been right had he not had this incredible history, ok? Does this alleged Vegas bender raise the question? Would Charlie Sheen be out partying like this if he had been held accountable, for example, for the New York hotel incident?

The woman who was hiding in his bathroom at the Plaza spoke to ABC. Let`s listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: I started to resist, and as soon as I did that he let off of me. And I as quickly as I could got up and began to walk towards my purse, my dress, and my cellular phone. He started throwing things.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He threw a lamp?

ANDERSON: He threw a lamp. That was the first thing he picked up. And he threw it across the room at me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Jamison Monroe, you`re the founder and CEO of The Newport Academy and an addiction expert. Look, anybody else, if they had trashed a hotel room at the Plaza Hotel and terrified a porn star where she hid cowering in the bathroom, allegedly fearing for her life. They would have probably have been hauled off to jail.

No, but what did the cops do to Charlie Sheen? They said, sir, Mr. Sheen, would you rather go to jail or would you rather go to a hospital? And he chose the hospital. Could this coddling, Jamison, ultimately do basically hurt him and be his undoing?

JAMISON MONROE, FOUNDER AND CEO, NEWPORT ACADEMY: Yes, Jane. You`re exactly right. I mean, he`s in the vicious cycle of relapse. What`s interesting here and I want to point out is the stigma that our society has against addiction.

The AMA defined addiction as a chronically relapsing and potentially fatal disease. Many, many years ago, making it no different from really diabetes or cancer but because the stigma that our society has around addicted behavior really prevent a lot of people from going untreated a la Charlie Sheen.

So if he was in relapse from say diabetes cancer there would be a bunch of people, all his supporters would be rallying behind him offering the support and care and treatment that he really needs. But because the majority of our public is uneducated around addiction, he goes untreated, as do millions of other addicts on a daily basis.

NATALIE THOMAS, "US WEEKLY": I don`t think anyone`s very surprised, Jane. This is kind of -- we have seen he`s had a history, years upon years, of addiction abuse and problems like this. Just in October he was at the Plaza in New York City and had the incident you were speaking of, and here he is again.

I think that if it continues to go on and his team surrounding him covers for him and he isn`t in trouble with the law, he`s going to continue and we`re continue to see these kinds of things.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I have a warning on the other side of the break for Charlie Sheen. And we`re taking your calls.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

BROOKE MUELLER, CHARLIE SHEEN`S FORMER WIFE: My husband had me with the knife, I fear for my life and he threatened me.

911 OPERATOR: Ok. Are you guys separated right now?

MUELLER: Yes, right now, we have people that are separating us but I have to file the report or else --

911 OPERATOR: Are there other people there? Does he still have the knife?

MUELLER: Yes. He still does.

911 OPERATOR: What`s your name?

MUELLER: Brooke.

911 OPERATOR: And what`s your husband`s name?

MUELLER: It`s Charlie Sheen.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That was Charlie Sheen`s third wife, Brooke Mueller, calling cops on Charlie a year ago. It`s been one thing after another for the Hollywood bad boy since then. He was accused of hitting that woman and got away with probation, didn`t serve a minute in jail. Now, word that he supposedly went on this Vegas-style bender with booze and porn stars; he barely made it on to the set of his show "Two and a Half Men".

NATALIE THOMAS, "Us Weekly", editor, L.A. bureau, when you make almost $2 million an episode, shouldn`t you at least have to be there on time?

THOMAS: The thing is, Charlie actually has, we have spoken to plenty of people and Charlie has a very good record of work, believe it or not. He goes on these crazy benders and then he shows up and he is a consummate professional. He nails his lines and that`s part of the reason we know that addicts have this denial aspect and that`s going to fuel that.

He can say look, here I am, I`m showing up, I`m doing what I need to be doing and I`m doing it well, and I`m fine. I don`t need help. He actually also --

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`ve got a warning for Charlie Sheen because I am a recovering alcoholic, hopefully by April I will get to 16 years. I say it all the time but I say it for this reason. We all know us recovering addicts and alcoholics that we love pushing that envelope and seeing how we can be terminally unique and the rules don`t apply to me and I can party all night and go to work the next morning.

Jamison Monroe, you`re in recovery, you know the syndrome; we`ve all been there. Eventually the rubber hits the road, the you-know-what hits the fan and something really bad happens. You can`t keep that -- statistically, you can`t keep it going forever, that great track record, right Jamison?

MONROE: No, you`re exactly right, Jane. It`s a ticking time bomb. That`s what addicts do, we put up this veneer, this wall that everything`s ok and as long as we do a, b, c and d and as long as Charlie Sheen keeps showing up to work and nailing those lines which, by the way, don`t seem too hard to do, eventually the bomb`s going to blow up and something bad`s going to happen.

You know, a lot of people say you either end up in jail or you end up dead or you end up sober. I hope the third one for Charlie, I really do.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Me too.

MONROE: But unless someone holds him accountable, the first two could very likely happen.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And it gets tougher as you get older. You`re not the spry young thing. I could -- when I was a teenager I would party all night, go to work the next day without sleep. I need ten hours of sleep now.

Christie, North Carolina, your question or thought?

CHRISTIE, NORTH CAROLINA (via telephone): Yes, ma`am. I believe that Charlie Sheen plays his part really well because he is not a good father to his children. He has disrespected every wife he`s ever had and he needs to be behind bars. He should not be -- he should not be in the public anymore. He doesn`t deserve it. He is a horrible influence for my children and for any other children in this whole world.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ma`am you make a good point but Dylan Howard, they keep giving him big pay checks because he brings in the ratings. Why do people watch him?

HOWARD: People watch him because they assimilate Charlie Sheen with the character that he plays on screen in "Two and a Half Men" Charlie Harper.

COHEN: And he`s funny.

HOWARD: He`s a boozer, he`s a funny man and he loves women. That`s why people accept his behavior which is wrong, for all the wrong reasons. Interestingly enough, his friends want him in rehab.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I don`t think this is love of women. I think it`s using them.